This newsletter is produced by the Friends of Blue Mountain - Birch Cove Lakes Society. It is all about the Blue Mountain - Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area and the proposed regional park for Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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Friends of Blue Mountain - Birch Cove Lakes: Mission Statement
To support and promote the creation and development of the Blue mountain Birch Cove Lakes regional park, and to ensure the stewardship and appropriate use of the area.
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MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRS
A year ago, the idea of a “Friends of Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes” was just emerging. A small group of keen supporters saw the need to focus our voices and apply ourselves to seeing Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes Regional Park become a reality. So much has moved forward since that time.
Picture: Irwin Barrett, Susies Lake
We have been active throughout the summer, and, as Co-Chairs, we have been amazed at the energy and ideas that our Board brings. Together we are twelve, active volunteers with experience in so many critical areas of park planning and recreation, a passion for the Blue Mountain area and a wealth of knowledge to help us work towards a wilderness park for all to enjoy.
In this NEWS, you will learn of some of our activities - all of which we hope will raise awareness and open the door for more people to fall in love with the lakes and trails of BMBCL. Please keep us in mind if you need speakers or other resources for your community groups. And, watch for news on membership, upcoming winter activities and events. Our goal is to engage as many people as possible, so please take a moment to share this newsletter with your friends, as we move on to our next phase of growth. Coming soon, please watch for our new website and the opportunity to become a Friends of BMBCL member. See you on the trails!
Mark Young & Diana Whalen
, Co-Chairs, Friends of Blue Mountain - Birch Cove Lakes
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BLUE MOUNTAIN PAINTERS EXHIBIT
The second annual, Paint the BMBCL Regional Park event came to an end Sept. 28, after another successful, one- month exhibit at the Keshen Goodman Library. Twenty artists, aptly named
The Blue Mountain Painters
, visited and painted scenes from Hobsons, Charlie’s & Susie’s Lakes over the summer, much the way of Canada's widely recognized Group of Seven.
Photo: Joy Laking creating "Pines"
The intention of this initiative was to raise public awareness of the proposed wilderness park whose fate is still vulnerable and uncertain. With an average of five hundred people a day moving through the library, this exhibit attracted many who were new to the BMBCL.
Among the renowned artists who participated were: Tom Forrestall, Joy Laking, Carol Morrison, Ron Kuwahara, Geoffrey Grantham, Tom Rand, Anne Fraser, Judy Hammond, Denise Desrosiers, Cheryl Greenburg, James Boyer, Rae Smith, Violet Rosegarten, Maria Valverde, Dot Mosher, Sunetra Eknayake and Gail Sutherland whose picture was featured on the Fall Art Guide Map as well as winning an international award for best painting.
This project was a joint effort between CARP, Halifax North West Trail Association, and the Friends of Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes. Thank you to all the volunteers and to the artists for helping to raise awareness about the proposed BMBCL Regional Park, and, a big round of applause to James Boyer, our Friends' Events Chair who brought it all together.
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Artist Ron Kuwahara at Charlie's Lake
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Artists Violet Rosengarten & Tom Forrestall; James Boyer, Events Chair
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Mark Young, Friends Co-Chair & Guests
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Hobsons Lake was not always so. Originally, it was known as Hopson Pond, named after the successor to Cornwallis,
Peregrine Hopson
, Governor of Nova Scotia, 1752-1755. Confirmation of the name change can be found
here
where it is listed as "rescinded". Perhaps one of our subscribers would like to follow up on this piece of history for a future NEWS. We remain interested in researching historical notes directly related to the BMBCL - please let us know if you have something to add.
Picture: David Jacks, Hobson Lake
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MEETINGS CONTINUE
Representatives from Friends of BMBCL are continuing to meet with staff and elected officials at all levels of government. Many objectives are in play as we strive to share and promote our vision of the proposed park that includes both the 'back country' (the BMBCL Wilderness Area) and the 'front country' (private property to be acquired by HRM).
As has been pointed out at numerous public meetings, a buffer zone around the back country is essential if we are to preserve for all time, the intrinsic value of the truly wild persona of the WA.
We encourage all supporters to continue to express these interests to their elected, HRM representatives. HRM council needs to hear that you remain committed to the creation of an urban wilderness park unlike any other in North America!
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Facing southerly from Fox Lake Look-off, this entire expanse (looking south-west) could and should be part of the proposed, regional park. About 30-40% of the picture to the east is privately held. Surrounded by urban development, this island of natural beauty is larger than the peninsula of Halifax at more than 1700 hectares (~ 4,200+ acres).
Photo: Richard Vinson
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TRAIL MAINTENANCE
As many of you know, the trails in the Charlie's, Fox, & Hobson Lakes areas are receiving very heavy use. As a result, one of the boardwalks (to Charlie's Lake from Maskwa Aquatic Club), constructed via a private citizen's initiative, has been removed due to long term deterioration. This was done c/o NS Dept of Environment's concern for hiker safety. To the best of our knowledge, there are presently no plans by any government agency to either replace this boardwalk or to make any improvements to the trails anywhere in the BMBCL Wilderness Area or surrounding properties. From our standpoint, this points to a real need for an overall management plan for the WA, along with any adjacent HRM lands - one of our priorities as we continue to work with all levels of government on this and other BMBCL issues.
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MAYOR & CAO PADDLE SUSIES LAKE
Often described as a "Mini Keji", BMBCL features an amazing canoe route. Braving the weather on Oct. 4, our guests, Mayor Mike Savage and CAO Jacques Dubé joined Friends for an early morning paddle and exploration of Susies Lake with a side foray up to Little Cranberry.
As the mayor expressed on twitter...
This morning the CAO @dubehalifax1 and I had the opportunity to paddle the waters inside the Blue Mountain / Birch Cove Lakes Urban Wilderness Area. A huge thanks to The Friends of the BMBCL Society for your invitation, knowledge and time. A truly beautiful landscape within our city!
Kudos go to board member, Ian Guppy and to volunteer Dusan Soudek for their work in getting this organized and also to seasoned paddler, David Ripley for helping out. Also, thanks to Ray Plourde for the great pics! If you'd like to learn more about canoeing in the WA, s
ee Halifax NW Trails:
canoe route.
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BLUE MOUNTAIN HEROES!
Irwin Barrett is a Bedford-based, fine art photographer specializing in landscapes, nature graphics, abstracts and photo-impressionistic subjects found mainly around Nova Scotia. He has been taking these superb pics since 1977, and his works have been featured in many books, calendars, note cards, magazines and websites. We are very pleased to feature Irwin as our first
Blue Mountain HERO for his promotion of the WA and agreeing to allow his photos to be used by Friends in our communications. Thank you Irwin! You can see more of Irwin's work
here.
Photo: Irwin Barrett, Frosted Marsh Sunrise
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KEY LINKS FOR BMBCL INFORMATION:
NOTE: We have an active Facebook page with more than 800 followers, plus Friends is now on Instagram as well. Have a look there for more news on BMBCL.
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Photo: Susan Smith Wheaton
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